Sunday, August 28, 2005
Category 5 Katrina Threatens New Orleans With Catastrophe
I was born in Louisiana and scientists have been predicting the storm of all storm that will eventually completely submerge New Orleans under water since it sits and average of 6 feet below sea level. I hope this is not that storm!!!
A map of LA to show where the hurricane is expected to hit (from Morgan City east to the Alabama-Florida state line).
New Orleans is protected by a system of levees and pumps that could be overwhelmed by the storm. There are fears that walls of water from the storm surge will swamp New Orleans and the low-lying parishes around it.
Excerpt:
Katrina currently has sustained winds of 160 mph and is expected to arrive along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast -- an area central to U.S. energy production and transport -- Monday at dawn. The mayor of New Orleans has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the city of 500,000 people.
New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin described the storm as potentially a "once-in-a-lifetime event" for the city, most of which sits below sea level. New Orleans is protected by levees from the surrounding waters of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, but they could be breached by a possible 28-foot storm surge and up to 15 inches or rain, forecasters warned.
Bush declared Louisiana and Missippi disaster areas, a status that allows for more concerted federal cooperation with local aid authorities.
posted by Cynthia
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